Montclair Board of Education turns down gift payment

By Eric Kiefer

Staff Writer |

The Montclair Times

It's rare for a school board to turn down an offer of help, especially when that service is worth thousands of dollars.

David DeutschWilford Adkins

So why did the Montclair Board of Education remove a pending resolution from the agenda of its public meeting on Monday, July 14, effectively turning down a proposed gift that would have paid for six months of a communications worker's service?

Here's what Board President David Deutsch told The Montclair Times.

According to Deutsch, there was a nonprofit foundation that wanted to donate the services of a skilled individual to the Montclair School District. This worker would have been used as an independently contracted service professional, who would have specialized in a much-needed duty: coordinating communications with parents and the community.

That was the plan, anyway.

But following the board's removal of a pending resolution that would have approved the donation - which effectively turned down the gift - Deutsch told The Times that the district is now planning to create an in-house position that will fulfill the same function ... for a salary.

Why is the board choosing to pay for a job that could have been done for free?

DOING THINGS THE 'REGULAR WAY'

Deutsch told The Times that after examining the district's budget, the board decided that the money to fund the proposed position was available, and that the board could finance the new position in the "regular way."

It's just a simpler way of doing things, said Deutsch.

"Ultimately, for a position that's for an ongoing need, it makes more sense to finance it in the normal process for hiring somebody," said Deutsch. "When you think about it, we have over 1,000 employees. So there's clearly a process for engaging people to work in the district."

The board president declined to comment on the details, duties and salary of the new communications position, referring The Montclair Times to Schools Superintendent Penny MacCormack.

MacCormack did not return repeated calls from The Montclair Times seeking comment.

TRANSPARENT DONATIONS

Deutsch explained that it's common for the district to use donated services, from classroom speakers to parents who volunteer to sell hot dogs at the Mounties football games.

"So the issue then becomes, why is it OK for some services to be donated and not others?" the board president rhetorically asked.

According to Deutsch, it's a little-known district policy that the board must approve any gift in excess of $2,000. Although the board never actually got to vote on the proposed donation, Deutsch said that the proposed gift would have been well over the $2,000 threshold and would have required an official thumbs-up.

According to Deutsch, there were some worries among community members that the proposed donation would have created some "improper influence in terms of the board," which he quickly denied.

"But I do know that some board members felt uncomfortable," Deutsch said.

Deutsch emphasized that the proposed gift would have been "free of strings," and that the individual would have had to sign an agreement to abide by all the district's policies and procedures.

MANY WAYS TO MAKE A DONATION

The board's last meeting wasn't the first time the idea for such a donation surfaced this year.

Wilford Adkins, president of the Montclair Fund for Education Excellence, a nonprofit which raises private funding and support for the district's public schools and its faculty, told The Times that the district superintendent approached the MFEE "a few weeks ago," asking the nonprofit to create a grant that would improve communications in the district.

Adkins said that in response to MacCormack's request, the MFEE managed to raise funding from private donors who wanted to support the effort for better communications. Pending a final vote by the MFEE board, the nonprofit was poised to create a "consultant" position that would have been under Board of Education control.

But the MFEE never got to take that final vote. According to Adkins, the effort ended up quashed after MFEE leaders got a chance to speak with members of the Board of Education, who advised them that the pending donation wasn't consistent with the MFEE's intended purpose.

"The position was that if this job needed to be funded to this degree, it needed to be put in place by the Board of Education and superintendent and not privately founded."

So why did the Montclair Board of Education remove a pending resolution from the agenda of its public meeting on Monday, July 14, effectively turning down a proposed gift that would have paid for six months of a communications worker's service?

According to Deutsch, there was a nonprofit foundation that wanted to donate the services of a skilled individual to the Montclair School District. This worker would have been used as an independently contracted service professional, who would have specialized in a much-needed duty: coordinating communications with parents and the community.

That was the plan, anyway.

But following the board's removal of a pending resolution that would have approved the donation - which effectively turned down the gift - Deutsch told The Times that the district is now planning to create an in-house position that will fulfill the same function ... for a salary.

Why is the board choosing to pay for a job that could have been done for free?

DOING THINGS THE 'REGULAR WAY'

Deutsch told The Times that after examining the district's budget, the board decided that the money to fund the proposed position was available, and that the board could finance the new position in the "regular way."

It's just a simpler way of doing things, said Deutsch.

"Ultimately, for a position that's for an ongoing need, it makes more sense to finance it in the normal process for hiring somebody," said Deutsch. "When you think about it, we have over 1,000 employees. So there's clearly a process for engaging people to work in the district."

The board president declined to comment on the details, duties and salary of the new communications position, referring The Montclair Times to Schools Superintendent Penny MacCormack.

MacCormack did not return repeated calls from The Montclair Times seeking comment.

TRANSPARENT DONATIONS

Deutsch explained that it's common for the district to use donated services, from classroom speakers to parents who volunteer to sell hot dogs at the Mounties football games.

"So the issue then becomes, why is it OK for some services to be donated and not others?" the board president rhetorically asked.

According to Deutsch, it's a little-known district policy that the board must approve any gift in excess of $2,000. Although the board never actually got to vote on the proposed donation, Deutsch said that the proposed gift would have been well over the $2,000 threshold and would have required an official thumbs-up.

According to Deutsch, there were some worries among community members that the proposed donation would have created some "improper influence in terms of the board," which he quickly denied.

"But I do know that some board members felt uncomfortable," Deutsch said.

Deutsch emphasized that the proposed gift would have been "free of strings," and that the individual would have had to sign an agreement to abide by all the district's policies and procedures.